Aging Poses New Challenges For Those With Special Needs

"Advocates and service providers say it’s one of a variety of care options that will be needed with increasing urgency as people with disabilities live longer than ever before.

In 1983, the average life expectancy for a person with Down syndrome was 25. Today, it’s 65 to 70, fueled largely by the mastery of a surgical procedure that corrects a heart defect present in 1 out of 2 people with Down syndrome, said Sara Weir, president of the National Down Syndrome Society, a nonprofit organization based in New York."